Upgraded Intercooler When Going Stage 2 - Worth it?

[nalinc23]

Hey everyone,

I am going Stage 2 (Unitronic DP) next Friday and really psyched to pick up the power. I may eventually go IS38 Hybrid when I have time and patience to data log, hone in on the perfect tune. My question is for now, while I'm at the shop, I was thinking about knocking out the upgraded Intercooler. It is going to add roughly $950 to my bill w/ labor (no i don't want to do it myself). Would it be worth doing? I live in a hot climate but will be moving to VA next summer which is a little less severe than here in GA. I keep hearing mixed opinions on this. I do not track the car but I drive in a spirited manner and I've felt the heat soak and IATs clearly being high. Would love to hear before and after impressions for those that have done any of these intercoolers (IE, Uni, APR, etc).

Thanks all!

Nate

[dierking]

I absolutely would. You can feel gains especially at higher speeds... the faster you drive the better it works! It will also help preserve your turbo in the long run.

I have a unitronic IC and have no complaints.. but it is one of the cheaper ICs so I dont know if I’m missing out on additional power that may come with a higher end one.

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[nalinc23]

Thanks for the advice! To your point I don't really understand why their DP is the most expensive (or one of them!) and their IC is the cheapest.

[dierking]

You bet! Yeah that doesn’t make a ton of sense to me... The ICs volume seems to be directly related to the price, from what I’ve seen. Besides Wagner.

The DP is puzzling, I got an APR DP when I went stage two because the tune was free with the DP purchase... so I didn’t look into other brands much.


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[MikTip]

I have IE intercooler on my stage 1.

Very noticeable improvement.

[EthanS]

Used to run an APR stage 2 plus a4 b7 in Virginia for years without an intercooler and never ran into any issues. I didn't think the IC was a necessary upgrade here. Just my personal experience.

[MikTip]

Used to run an APR stage 2 plus a4 b7 in Virginia for years without an intercooler and never ran into any issues. I didn't think the IC was a necessary upgrade here. Just my personal experience.

An intercooler is best experienced installed. They make a noticeable difference. Especially in the heat soak arena. On my B6 A4 the FMIC provided the car with zero heat soak issues. Basically 1 shot of boost and you feel diminished performance until everything cools back down. On my S3 the IE intercooler also provides for zero heat soak issues. Zero diminished performance. The intercooler also reduces intake charge temp to ambient temp. The difference is quite noticeable. If you would of installed an aftermarket intercooler you would experience the difference.

[EthanS]

An intercooler is best experienced installed. They make a noticeable difference. Especially in the heat soak arena. On my B6 A4 the FMIC provided the car with zero heat soak issues. Basically 1 shot of boost and you feel diminished performance until everything cools back down. On my S3 the IE intercooler also provides for zero heat soak issues. Zero diminished performance. The intercooler also reduces intake charge temp to ambient temp. The difference is quite noticeable. If you would of installed an aftermarket intercooler you would experience the difference.

Fair points. I don't doubt an IC would make a perceivable difference, but I evaluated my needs at the time and as a zippy DD it never came close to encountering heat soak or diminished performance from what I could tell.

[mtarr07]

Used to run an APR stage 2 plus a4 b7 in Virginia for years without an intercooler and never ran into any issues. I didn't think the IC was a necessary upgrade here. Just my personal experience.

An intercooler is best experienced installed. They make a noticeable difference. Especially in the heat soak arena. On my B6 A4 the FMIC provided the car with zero heat soak issues. Basically 1 shot of boost and you feel diminished performance until everything cools back down. On my S3 the IE intercooler also provides for zero heat soak issues. Zero diminished performance. The intercooler also reduces intake charge temp to ambient temp. The difference is quite noticeable. If you would of installed an aftermarket intercooler you would experience the difference.

Fair points. I don't doubt an IC would make a perceivable difference, but I evaluated my needs at the time and as a zippy DD it never came close to encountering heat soak or diminished performance from what I could tell.

This. Nothing against you Ethan, but people always comment that they didn't run into any issues or they didn't see any performance reduction but they never had it installed/ experienced it installed. I haven't met many (none that I can recall) that installed an IC and DIDNT comment that they noticed it made a big difference. So not trying to call you out specifically by any means, but if you dont have a IC, you can't really comment on how much it did or did not impact performance.

I was able to run a all out 29psi tune on the stock turbo with an IC. That would have been a death wish (even moreso) on stock IC. Even at typical stage 2 24-25psi spike on stock turbo it makes an enormous difference after one run. After ONE run a stock IC heatsoaks at stage 2 levels and has difficulty getting back down to normal temps. One run could be a spirited on ramp burst from 2nd to 4th. You dont have to be racing for it to make a big impact, especially on hot days just under normal driving conditions I could tell a massive difference.

[EthanS]

This. Nothing against you Ethan, but people always comment that they didn't run into any issues or they didn't see any performance reduction but they never had it installed/ experienced it installed. I haven't met many (none that I can recall) that installed an IC and DIDNT comment that they noticed it made a big difference. So not trying to call you out specifically by any means, but if you dont have a IC, you can't really comment on how much it did or did not impact performance.

I was able to run a all out 29psi tune on the stock turbo with an IC. That would have been a death wish (even moreso) on stock IC. Even at typical stage 2 24-25psi spike on stock turbo it makes an enormous difference after one run. After ONE run a stock IC heatsoaks at stage 2 levels and has difficulty getting back down to normal temps. One run could be a spirited on ramp burst from 2nd to 4th. You dont have to be racing for it to make a big impact, especially on hot days just under normal driving conditions I could tell a massive difference.

Well, that sums it up nicely for the OP. I am by no means an intercooler expert - just thought I'd offer my .02¢, so take it with a grain of salt.

[hpclayto]

Having things run cooler is never a bad thing. I’m getting ready to put my down pipe on but am going to wait until next spring/summer to do an intercooler.

[o1turbo30v]

For a daily driver on the stock turbo no, hybrid turbo yes.

[hev702]

Reading this definitely makes me want an intercooler. Especially living in a desert.

[nalinc23]

I really appreciate everybody’s feedback, I made the call today to do it!


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[R1ce]

I added the APR IC after going APR stage 2 (IS20). Very noticeable difference when doing a 1-2-3 pull, even without doing dyno runs to prove the gains. I did the install with a friend which took 4-5 hours. Totally worth it.

[spacecase]

From what I've read I heard the stock intercoolers are meh for Audi. Check out this testing on them to see which are the best. Some brand called DO88 from the UK seem to be the best in terms of airflow. http://mygolfmk7.com/2020/03/do88-in...ler-flow-test/ With an intercooler you should feel less power drop from heat soak especially when driving in hot weather.

[EROtero]

If you don't track NO
if you do track or autoX YES

[Sv2k]

For a daily driver Unitronic should be just fine. From the performance standpoint, APR and IE are better options but cost more. Aside from those two, in terms of IAT reduction and the amount of airflow, Unitronic is the best option on the US market.

Check MK7 blog out, lots of good info on various ICs.


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